The More Things Change The More They Stay The Same
by Ecto Soldier
Summary: Jason thought his ranger days were behind him, completely content to spend the rest of his days with his wife and new born daughter. But after an incident with his past powers, he gets frozen until a time in the future where his daughter is the red ranger
1. Chapter 1

Tommy and Jason shared a harty laugh as they walked back to Jason's motorcycle. "Thanks again for coming Jason, I really thought we were going to have to go up there without you for a moment." Jason smirked. "As if I could let you do this without the first red ranger. But I do have to say that I was pleasantly surprised by the new guy's abilities, it was about time somebody took out that stupid zord!" Tommy laughed. "Oh come on Jason, you're just saying that because the zord used to have a thing for you." Jason gave his old team mate an annoyed yet playful glare. "You can't tell me it never had it out for me, it always seemed to go after me."

Tommy laughed with his friend before delicately approaching a matter he knew he simply had to ask. "Jason, I need to know..."

"Why I was almost late?"

"Yes! I need to know!" smiled Tommy.

"Emily gave birth to my child today."

"Jason that great! What is it, a boy or girl?"

"A girl! A beautiful healthy baby girl, Tommy! When I held her in my hands today I knew that my life is going to change. Looks like I'm done being a ranger from here on in." said Jason.

"Oh come on bro, once a ranger always a ranger."

"Not for me, I'm a dad now. The world's just going to have to take the back seat. Besides, it's not like as if there aren't like thirty rangers to pick up the slack. And on another matter, whatever happened to your 'racing career'?"

"Oh that, that kinda fell apart. Paleontology seems to have kind of grabbed my interest though."

"Huh, seriously?"

"What can I say, I'm feeling nostalgic. But I gotta say Jas, I didn't expect for you to back being so huge."

"You didn't actually think I was going to stop weight lifting did you? That's my hobby for crying out loud."

"Ha ha. I guess not. But at least today you learned from the new guy who's the greatest red ranger..."

"Oh come on, Cole did impress me but he's still pretty green for a red ranger. Besides, I'm the one that set the bar for future red rangers."

"Oh yeah?" Tommy gave him a playful push. "Yeah." Jason pushed back.

They shared a good laugh as they continued walking but the mood took a more serious mood when Jason stumbled holding his gut.

"Whoa, Jase! You okay?!"

Jason feel to his knees sweating bullets "I don't think so! I feel...weird."

Jason started to brightly glow gold and then red as he fell to his side.

"Jason!!!"

Jason looked up at his best friend, his vision starting to blur.

"Hang on Jason!!" Jason looked at Tommy's face as it started to fade. "Just hang on..."

* * *

Three years later...

Tommy lead Conner into a guarded room of a goverment building. "So why did you want to take me here again?"

"I thought it would help you better yourself if you saw an old friend of mine."

Tommy looked up at Jason's frozen form as he waited for Conner to catch up, they were thirty miles underground after all. Jason was frozen in a cryogenics tube hanging on the wall.

"Why do you think that that's going to help m...HOLY COW HE'S HUGE!!!"

"Ha. Yes, he always did say weight lifting was his hobby. Conner who you're looking at is the very first red ranger."

Conner stared in awe at Jason as the information sunk into his head.

"He was a strong leader, a good fighter, an unbelievable ranger, and my very best friend." said Tommy sadly.

"If he was so awesome then how come he's taking such a chill pill?"

"Shortly after an all red ranger mission on the moon Jason's body started having odd symptoms which lead to unconsciousness."

"Did they ever find out what was wrong with him?"

"Yes and no I'm afraid. Whatever was happening to him scientists believe that his Red Mighty Morphin powers and the remanents of his Golden Zeo powers went into conflict again."

"Really?"

"Possibly, nothing was definete. But whatever his problem was they couldn't stop it or cure it, so they froze him until they could find a way to help him. The really sad thing is Jason's three year old girl is growing up without him. It's a sad sight when she asks about her Daddy."

"Talk about a raw deal."

"You know Conner, in a lot of ways he's your predecessor. Red ranger, Tyrannosaurus zord, skilled with the staff; you have more in common with him than you ever did with me." said Tommy.

"Wow. He could really do all that?"

"And do it well to boot. He was one the man I felt was my equal in everything, especially fighting. Even when I turned evil he still never gave up on me, he was the strongest on both the outside and the inside."

Conner gave a sad smile "I think I get it now Dr. O, thank you."

As Conner started to leave, Tommy gazed up at Jason's frozen form. "I swear Jason, one day you will be free. A cure will be found and then you can hold your daughter again."

As Tommy turned and left Jason glowed gold and red at the same time.


	2. Chapter 2

Jason felt cold, his movement seemed restricted, he couldn't even open his eyes. But all of that changed almost instantly as a gush of hot air cover his body as his body started to fall for what seemed like ages. His body was caught by what felt like a stetcher.

"We have to hurry, he won't last long without the cure!"

Jason fell in and out of consciousness but he could tell he was being taken somewhere. He was soon placed in a metal tube which sealed him in with a glass window.

"Begin the procedure!"

A strange filled the tube before Jason lost consciousness again.

* * *

Jason woke up in a hospital bed with wires attached to his body.

"Hey man, welcome back to the land of the living."

Jason turned to his left and saw Zack sitting in a chair. Well he looked like Zack anyways, this man was much more mature and had wrinkles with gray hair.

Jason squinted his eyes at him. "Zack?"

"Ha ha, yeah it's me. But I guess you wouldn't know that by looking at me huh?"

"What happened?"

"Time happened Jase, we had to freeze you for a long time to figure out a way to stabalize you."

Jason instantly thought of his family; Emily, his daughter, what happened to them while he was MIA?

"How long was I frozen?"

"I'm not sure I'm the right one to tell you that. You'd probably feel better hearing it from a doctor or..."

"Zack, if you're my friend you'll tell me."

Zack mentally kicked himself, he knew that would probably be the first question he'd ask but he just HAD to be the first one to welcome him back, and Zack also knew how Jason was going to react once he heard.

"Sigh. Sixteen years."

"No!" Jason seemed to have gone into a type of shock. "It can't be that long! Me and Emily...we...we had plans! And our daughter...oh dear God, Zack! I missed it! Her childhood, her first steps, her first words..."

"Whoa!! Calm down man! You can't overexcite yourself, you're still recovering!"

Jason was still pretty upset but he knew his friend was right. He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm down, but still needed at least some piece of mind.

"What're they like now?"

"Well Emily is still single, she's living alone several towns over. Your daughter grew up trying to learn everything about you, not just the ranger stuff. She eventually made some friends all her own, kind of reminded me of us and the gang back in the old days...but whenever life got her down or she felt sad she would spend time in the cryogenics chamber where we kept you."

_"How could spend time with my frozen form if Emily is supposed to be living several towns away?"_ thought Jason. This thought brought up a new question to Jason's mind.

"Zack, exactly where are we bro? This is clearly a hospital bed but the building feels more...strict than that."

Zack smiled. "That's because you're in Thunderbolt Rangers headquarters."

Jason raised an eyebrow at Zack. "Excuse me 'Thunderbolt Rangers'?" that had to be the most ridiculous name for a ranger team Jason had ever heard of.

"Hey man, I just run the place, I didn't come up with the name. But yeah the new guys are named that way because their power coins were formed from the old thunderzords that got destroyed."

"No way, really?"

"It's true bro, I want back to check out the damage on them and found out there was a way to convert their remaining power to coin form."

"How on Earth did you manage that?"

"Remember when we were picked for that peace conference and we had to use that golden sword thing to transfer our powers?"

"I should, we nearly died trying to get that thing!"

"Turns out the thing has got a lot more tricks up it's sleeve than just power transferal. But the weird thing was that the bodies of the Thunderzords reverted back to their original Dinozord forms."

"So the Dinozords are back?"

"I wish Jase, but even then the Dinozords were too damaged to be used again."

"That's too bad, I was kind of looking forward to seeing them again. But Zack, if the new guys aren't using the Dinozords, and the Thunderzords are what gives the rangers their powers, than what zords they using?"

"Well it's more zord than zords, they only got one."

"What?"

"Turns out an old friend was still alive and wanting to fight."

"Who could possibly...unless...no, it couldn't be..."

"It is Jason, Titanus. He was still online and waiting for oders, we patched him up and gave him some upgrades and he was good to go."

Jason laughed at the irony of one of the oldest and powerfulest zords still being used in the fight.

"I'll check up on you in a couple of hours Jase and then I'll give a tour of the headquarters."

As Zack left the room Jason looked out his window and saw that he was about ten stories up. "I take it that keeping a secret identity is no longer a big deal."

* * *

Jason walked with Zack down to what he was told was the training area.

"This all looks pretty picey, Zack. How on Earth were you able to pay for all this?" asked Jason.

"Let's just say that when a certain millionaire found out what we were doing and our funds got 'Overdrived'."

Zack laughed at his own joke but Jason just seemed confused.

"Oh, I forget you were in frozen sleep for when some of the new ranger teams that got formed. But don't worry I'll tell you later."

They went into a room with a giant window where Jason assumed someone could monitor the rangers performance.

"Oh Jason, I almost forgot there is something very important I need to tell you! No matter what the reason, you can never morph again!"

"What?! Why not?!"

"Re-exposing yourself to the morphing grid could lead to a relapse and to be honest, I'm not sure we could bring you back a second time!"

For a moment Jason seemed sad at the thought of never morphing again but residuely got over it. "I guess that's fine. I was ready to leave my ranger life behind before I got frozen."

Jason leaned over on a counter in front of the window. "Let's see what your new guys can do."

Zack smiled as he walked over to Jason with his hands behind his back. "I think you'll be genuiley impressed, I did train all of them after all."

Five teenagers walked into the training room with a different colored shirt. However, the caucasian one in the blue shirt seemed upset about something. He had black with a decent build but nothing like a martial artist, he looked more like a gymnist.

"But I don't want to be a unicorn!! Do you have any idea how many gay jokes are probably going to get tossed at me?!"

"Eliott, you are the Blue Unicorn Ranger!! Live with it!!" shouted an Asian looking woman in a yellow shirt. She had short black hair with a bright yellow headband on top of her head. Her build only seemed slightly muscular, her bust was clearly A cup, and was about as tall as Eliott.

"Easy for you to say Tiff, you don't get a horn when you morph!!"

"Well I personally think you're taking this too seriously. Who cares if you're a unicorn?" asked a woman in a pink shirt. She had long brownhair in a ponytaily wrapped by a pink scrunchie. She seemed shorter than the other rangers, her bust was between A to B cup, but her legs seemed to have more muscle than the rest of her body. Perhaps she did some form of bicycling or rollerblading, it was hard to say.

"I care Ginger! How many straight guys do you see affiliated with a unicorn?!"

TheAfrican-American in a black muscle shirt gave him a playful shove. He was obviously the biggest out of all the rangers, tallest too, his build suggested he did hourly weight lifting sessions daily. "Cheer up buddy, at least we know you're straight."

"That's not funny, Greg!!" snapped Eliott.

"Come on guys..." said the woman in a red shirt. She had long blonde hair, was reasonably tall, her bust was at most a B cup, her muscles told of a serious martial arts traing but nothing too outrageous. "Keep it together. We can talk about it over a milkshake after training."

Eliott looked at her with a hopeful expression. "You mean it? You're not just yanking my chain?"

The red shirted woman playfully rolled her eyes. "Yes I mean it. We'll all have a serious discussion about it but only AFTER our training session. Now let's get our act together! It's Morphin Time!!!"

"See that? I kept your old catchphrase alive." joked Zack.

Each of the new rangers took out morphers that looked a lot like the original ones Jason and his team used back in the day.

CHUNK!!!

"Red Dragon!"

"Yellow Gryphon!"

"Black Lion!"

"Blue Unicorn!" groaned the Blue Ranger.

"Pink Firebird!"

Their uniforms seemed to match the creatures from which they drawed their power from. Almost instantly some type of battle robot materialized in front of them.

"Like the battle drones? They were a gift from the Space Rangers."

"You're a resourceful guy Zack." admitted Jason.

"Let's try out the new lasers!" ordered the Red Ranger.

The latest team of rangers pulled white blasters from their holsters and started to fire them. Jason couldn't help but feel he saw them before.

"Wait a minute...I know those blasters." said Jason.

"You finally noticed huh? It seemed like such a waste to let those blaster we used against the super puddies just collect dust. So we found them, gave it a trigger function, and an ability to change into a dagger. Can't argue with the classics."

"With all the used stuff their using maybe they should be called Recycle Rangers?" joked Jason.

"Oh ha ha."

"Dragon Spear!!!" The Red Thunderbolt Ranger pulled out a dragon shaped staff with a blade coming out it's mouth. She charged at the drones weilding the spear with much skill and grace.

"The red one seems familiar." mused Jason. He wasn't sure what it was, maybe how she looked or how she fought Jason wasn't quite sure where his feeling of Deja'vu was coming from.

"She should man, that's your daughter, Jamie."

Jason was filled with a tornado of emotions. Pride, that his daughter was the first female Red Ranger to his knowledge, fear, of what a dangerous life she was probably going to have, anger, at his friend for not telling him sooner!

"And you recruited her this?!"

"What? No! Jason man, it didn't work like that! I didn't give her the coin and she didn't find it, it found her."

Jason sighed as he leaned his head into his left hand. "Why couldn't she have just stayed a little baby just a little bit longer?"

"Alright, I think it's time you met them. Especially your daughter, she's been waiting for this day."

Zack pressed a couple of buttons on the console and made the drones disappear.

"Hey, why's he cutting the session so short today?" asked Greg.

"I don't know but he's got to have a good reason for it." deduced Jamie. "Power down!"

In a flash the Thunderbolt Rangers were back in their human forms.

"Come on let's check this out." said Tiff.

The instant Jamie walked through the door and saw the Jason she froze. She walked towards him in uneven steps out of pure shock.

Jamie gentally caressed Jason's face with her fingertips.

"Daddy?"

That's all for now. I will be keeping a small record of the new rangers just so everybody doesn't get confused after a lack of update. I must confess though for a little while I was really racking my brains on what the new rangers form and then I caught a vid on youtube about the Thunderzords. I wanted to call them Thunder Rangers but it just seemed too familiar, I think Ninja Storm beat me to it. Tommy and Kim will be showing up in some later chapters as well as some more familiar faces. Oh but I should probably tell you all that I usually update whatever story gets the most reviews.


	3. Author's Note

I am sorry to say that the file I was going to update this story with is now gone forever due to a technical error. It sucks I know, but now I have to start the chapter all over again as opposed to finish at my leasure. I also have some other works I want to get published. Just know I'm not giving up on this. Just need a little more Ranger inspiration.


End file.
